The current refugees flows and the need for integration of large populations of people refugees and asylum seekers from conflict zones has posed several challenges at EU level, the most urgent being of humanitarian aid. Nevertheless, when the time comes for refugees to settle down and integrate European cities, the urgent need becomes to find employment. Migrants and refugees need the specialised support of career advisors and counsellors to validate their competences and obtain qualifications relevant for the labour market. Guidance counsellors are in need of new methodologies and tools, in order to work with migrants and refugees. The project aims to build the capacity of guidance counsellors to work with migrants and refugees and equip them with tools and methods to better address the needs of migrants and refugees. The specific objectives of the project are: To develop a method for assessment and validation of core competences, through the combined use of standardised testing and qualitative assessment methods – interviews. To build the capacity of guidance counsellors on: - how to assess core competences of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers - how to support migrants and refugees demonstrate their competences, using Europass tools (especially Europass CV and Language passport)-how to use the tool Match2NQF for occupational guidance in specific sectors-how to orient migrants and refugees to find employment locally and in different EU countries using EURES portal and Euroguidance networkApplicant is ADPI, France is a consultancy and Vet provider to unemployed and migrants, partners are IDEC a Greek certified LLL centre, consultancy and software development company, VHS Cham a learning provider for migrants in South Germany, VRC a UK company specialized in providing guidance to disadvantaged and Club for Unesco of Piraeus and islands (EL) who is a leading player in culture, providing also humanitarian aid and support to migrants and disadvantaged.PERSPECTIVE project will build on the current intercultural training models and training scheme as well as on results of the previous projects,MIGRANTS+ that has developed a software tool for the identification of learning needs for basic skills and Match2NQF that has developed a framework for competences assessment against national qualifications. Project activities planned are:• Needs analysis of guidance counsellors working with migrants and refugees and development of a competence framework• Development of framework for assessment of core competences for migrants and refugees• Development of the on-line assessment tool for core-competences (O1)• Development of a training course for counsellors (O2)• Development of a handbook for counsellors (O3)• Development of an on-line platform and community of practice for counsellors (O4)• Organisation of a training course for counsellors in Exeter, involving 3participants from each partner organisation, in total 15 participants. • Pilot testing of the on-line assessment (40 migrants)• Pilot guidance sessions for migrants and refugees (40 migrants, 3-4 sessions each). • Structured evaluation of the piloting activities (VRC)• Finalisation of tools• Multiplier events (200 persons in all partners’ countries)• Project meetings Paris, Athens, Cham, Exeter, Paris• Project plan (and updates)• Dissemination strategy • Partners dissemination plans• Production of dissemination tools, web-site, leaflet• Quality assurance plan (including risk assessment, conflict resolution)• Evaluation plan• Interim/final reportComing to the impact, the self-assessment tool for assessing key competences will be accessible and can be used by an unlimited number of migrants and refugees anywhere as long as one speaks one of the languages it will be available in (French, English, German, Arabic and Greek). The on-line platform and community of practice for guidance counsellors may also be used by or consulted and support guidance counsellors in their jobs anywhere, mostly in Europe of course. The course for guidance counsellors and the handbook on the other hand, although piloted at a European level, address exactly guidance counsellors, who provide their services mostly at a micro level (local and regional).For local authorities, national authorities and the Europe the influx of such big numbers of migrants and refugees constitute a real challenge. That refugees and migrants acquire key competences, much valued by employers and find a job does not just mean less expenditure for the state. It is translated as migrants and refugees feeling better, be more easily integrated in the society and values of Europe and, finally, less risk for development of dangerous ideas and groups, fed by unemployment isolation and lack of perspective for them.Results of the project developed within O1, O2, O3 and O4 will be maintained and one may access them for free 5 years after the end of the EU funding.
The current refugee flows and the need to integrate large populations of refugees and asylum seekers from conflict areas have posed several challenges at the EU level, the most urgent being humanitarian aid. Nevertheless, when the time comes for refugees to settle and integrate European cities, it becomes urgent to find a job. Migrants and refugees need the specialized support of career counselors and counselors to validate their skills and obtain relevant qualifications for the labor market. Guidance counselors need new methodologies and tools to work with migrants and refugees. The PERSPECTIVE project aimed to strengthen the capacity of guidance counselors to work with migrants and refugees and equip them with tools and methods to better meet the needs of migrants and refugees. The specific objectives of the project are: - develop a method for evaluating and validating key competences, combining the use of standardized test methods and qualitative assessment. - Build the capacity of guidance counselors on how to assess the core competencies of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and how to help migrants and refugees demonstrate their skills. The partners are ADPI, France, provider of veterinary services to the unemployed and migrants; IDEC, Greek Center for Lifelong Learning, Consulting and Software Development Certified Greek VHS Cham, Learning Provider for Migrants from Southern Germany; HRV is a British company specializing in the orientation of disadvantaged people. Club for UNESCO Piraeus and Islands (EL), main actor of culture, it also provides humanitarian aid and support to migrants and disadvantaged people. PERSPECTIVE draws on current intercultural training models and curricula, as well as the results of previous projects, MIGRANTS +, which has developed software to identify training needs for core competencies, and Match2NQF, who developed a framework for assessing competencies against national qualifications. . The results of the project are: - an online assessment tool for basic skills - a training program for advisers - a manual for advisors • - The enrichment of an online platform and a community of practices for advisers (DISCUSS) - a structured assessment of the impact of training the self-assessment tool for assessing key competences will be accessible and can be used by an unlimited number of migrants and refugees, wherever they may be, as soon as one of the languages in which they are spoken available (French, English, German, Arabic and Greek). The online platform and the community of practice for guidance counselors can also be used by or consulted and support guidance counselors in their work, across Europe of course. The guidance counselor course and handbook, though piloted at the European level, are aimed at guidance counselors, who provide their services mainly at a micro level (local and regional). For local authorities , the national authorities and Europe, the influx of so many migrants and refugees is a real challenge. That refugees and migrants acquire key skills that employers value and find employment does not simply mean that the state spends less. This translates into the fact that migrants and refugees feel better, integrate more easily into the society and values of Europe.